Contact Us

Anthony PiresAssistant to the Office of Intercultural Educationapires@wellesley.eduTel: 781.283.2955Fax: 781.283.3609

Welcome to the Initiative for Diversity and Inclusion for Students (IDIS)

"The goal of this Initiative is to engage members of the Wellesley community—students, faculty, and staff—in collectively casting a concrete vision of how Wellesley should enhance its efforts in supporting diversity and inclusion for all students over the coming years. We are called to assess ourselves to ensure that we commit the institutional support needed to address the evolving needs of a diverse, multicultural student body within the context of a new era."

H. Kim Bottomly, President of Wellesley College

The Initiative for Diversity and Inclusion for Students (IDIS), launched in October 2009 was designed to answer the question, “What would success look like if Wellesley College was a truly diverse and inclusive community?” The goal of this initiative was to engage members of the Wellesley Community in thinking about how to continue to move forward on our deeply held commitment to diversity and inclusion. The IDIS Process provided the community the chance to participate in defining our vision for the future through community-wide focus groups and public conversations including “The Innovation Panel” of experts of diversity and multiculturalism and representation on the Core Committee. This process led to the development of four Strategic Directions that will allow us to enhance our ability to support our diverse student body and realize our vision for a dynamic out-of-the-classroom experience that prepares students for the global world. One key outcome of this process is the creation of the Office of Intercultural Education which is responsible for implementing the Strategic Directions, educating students for national and global citizenship through an integrated co-curricular program of intercultural education that equips students with the awareness, knowledge and skills they will need for leadership and life in a diverse and interdependent world.